ranch life

April 2022 Books!

Hi, y’all! April was a little busier for us because we managed to get our house ready, put it on the market, and sell it within about 2 weeks, and are just waiting for closing now, but suffice it to say, I didn’t have as much time to read! I did finish 4 books (mainly at the beginning of the month before we jumped in to house stuff), so that brings my grand total for the year up to 26 of 72 (I was staying far ahead enough of my yearly goal of 60 that I decided to up it a book a month to a total of 72). April also brought reading heartbreak- I love looking at my reading insights on Kindle, and had a daily reading streak of 142 days (November 29, 2021 to April 19, 2022), with the goal of reading at least a page or two every day in 2022. Only on April 20, I didn’t open my Kindle app and lost my streak 😭. I’ve started a new one, but that was still such a bummer! I’ll live- it’s not like that’s a noteworthy accomplishment or anything, but I think you fellow readers understand my pain, haha!

And here are my thoughts on the four books this month- this month I read more work from mostly authors I’d read before, and had some varying thoughts!

The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley

eBook library loan from Libby

I credit Lucy Foley and The Guest List with really spurring me back into reading more frequently about a year ago because I could not put that book down. Probably of her three (The Guest List, The Hunting Party, and this one), this was my least favorite. The characters didn’t seem as developed to me, or maybe I just wasn’t as invested. It was good, but I’d not say it was great, especially compared to the others. There are some decent twists and turns, but I found myself just not really caring by the end because I wasn’t that interested.

The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell

eBook library loan from Libby

This one, on the other hand, had me pulled in from the get go, and I finished it super quickly. This is my first of hers, but I would be interested to read more of her work because this one was so engaging! It’s a little thriller, and a little mystery, with some unexpected twists and turns. It centers around a woman who was adopted as a baby finding out the story of her biological family when she turns 25 and inherits the family house. There is a cult and murder/suicide situation involved, and the story moves between her perspective, her older sister’s present day perspective, and her older brother’s telling of the past. It’s different, interesting, and I would recommend it if you like that light psychological domestic thriller kind of situation.

One Italian Summer by Rebecca Serle

eBook library loan from Libby

I don’t really know how I feel about this one. Again, I loved her last book, In Five Years, more so than The Dinner List, but this one didn’t meet my expectations compared to that. All of her books are essentially realistic with some small element of magic- so the main character loses her mother to cancer, and decides to go on their pre-planned girls’ trip to Positano alone, only to find that her mother is there- except it’s her mother at age 30, and she gets the opportunity to get to know that woman and have more time with her. I think my main issue is that I just had no connection with the main character. I found her to be whiny and selfish (she essentially dumps her husband for no reason other than grieving her mother, despite him trying to be as understanding as he can be), and that made it way harder to “root” for her, or be invested in how things turn out for her. I was not a fan for pretty much the whole book, but the last handful of chapters did make me cry as it wrapped up. I’m honestly a little meh about this one- I would recommend it if you’ve read others from her just to compare, but if this is your first of her books, I’d say skip.

The Love That Split the World by Emily Henry

eBook library loan from Libby

And lastly, this is my second from Emily Henry- I read Beach Read last month, which is a light rom com, and this is not at all the same, haha! It’s described as “Friday Night Lights meets The Time Traveler’s Wife”, so I picked it up because those are two of my very favorites. It somewhat meets that description- there are some time traveling/ other dimensions type things going on, and the main character is about to graduate from high school, which is, I guess, where the FNL part comes in, but other than that, it is definitely it’s own thing because I have had a really hard time trying to describe it. It’s bizarre. Like that’s the best word I know to describe it, and that’s not a bad thing- I don’t regret reading it, but it is strange, and nothing like her others as far as I’ve seen. I was rushing to finish because I was trying to beat my library loan being returned, so I probably missed some things, but the ending left me really confused and kinda disappointed if I understood it correctly. It is well written, unique, and creative, and I think if you know it’s strange going into it, it’s less jarring. Don’t pick this up expecting a cute rom com because that it’s not, but it is pretty good!

And that wraps up April books! I should have more to share in May because we’ll be slightly less busy and because I’ve been making more use of audiobooks. See y’all next month!

Linked with Jana Says for Show Us Your Books

5 thoughts on “April 2022 Books!

  1. awww man, losing a streak sucks! i don’t always open my kindle app but use my actual kindle, i have not noticed if that counts for the streak or not.
    i read that emily henry book years before beach read etc but i can totally see how jarring it would be to expect something similar to her newer books. i have another one of her older ones on my shelf, but just read her newest – book lovers – so even though i know it’ll be different i’m sure it will be weird how different it is lol.i didn’t like the paris apartment either šŸ™ that lisa jewell one is on my list!

  2. I hate when I mess up a streak even when I start right away again.

    The main character in One Italian Summer made it nearly impossible to root for her.

    I also like Foley but really did not like The Paris Apartment.

    Lisa Jewell has The Family Remains (family upstairs 2) coming out in August.

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